Twine holding and dispensing device



June 5, 1923. 1,457,621

w. ELEY TWINE HOLDING AND DISPENSING DEVICE Filed March 29 1921 Patented June 5, 1923. UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

L: WILLIAM ELEY, OF SUFFOLK, VIRGINIA.

' i TWINE HOLDING AND DISPENSING DEVICE.

Application filed March 29, 1921. Serial No. 456,703.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM ELEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Suffolk, in the county of Nansemond and State of Virginia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Twine Holding and Dispensing Devices, of which the following is a specification.

The object of the invention is to provide a store service twine dispensing apparatus of a comparatively simple construction, capable of manufacture in sections or separable members which can be easily assembled and conveniently disconnected to assume a knock-clown portable form for shipment and storage, and which when set up for operation will provide for maintaining the'free end of a wrapping cord or twine within convenient reach of the salesman, and out of the way of bundles or articles on the counter or shelves, while permitting any desired length thereof to be drawn from a supply cone or ball held to freely release the wrappings, and in this connection to provide efiicient tension and take-up means, designed respectively to yieldingly resist the paying-out of the cord or twine to prevent over-feeding, looseness and snarling and to withdraw or retract the lose or free end after being detached and released to hold it out of the way while presenting it in position to be subsequently grasped by the operator for further use, the take-up means being so related with the tension device as to cooperate therewith in modifying or cushioningthe strain upon the cord and the supply cone or ball, so that hasty or abrupt straining of the cord due to jerking the same will not serve to disarrange the parts or cause any interruption of the delivery and hence delay of the operator.

In designing a device for the purpose indicated, whether it is to be used successively by different salesmen or repeatedly by an operator devoting attention mainly to bundle wrapping, it is essential, in addition to having the cord or twine free to feed or pay out without appreciable strain or resistance and yet under such restraint that overfeeding or unnecessary slack may be prevented, that the free end of the cord may always be exposed and unobstructed and may always be in the same place, so that it may be grasped without looking for it and can by no possibility become covered or hidden by goodsor articles on the counter, or have the ends extended beyond the point at which the cord may be conveniently grasped that it is necessary to draw or strip the same through the hands in order to find the end, and in practice one of the main disadvantages of the excessive extension of the cord resides in the attendant waste of material, inasmuch as the average clerk will tie a bundle from an intermediate portion of the cord, and thus unnecessarily double the same rather than take the time to look or feel forthe end.

Moreover, in designing -a device for the purpose indicated, it is desirable to bear in mind that the character of the business in connection with which the same may be used frequently determines where the apparatus may be or may not be located, whereas the free end of the twine must be unobstructed and within convenient reach at all times from the counter or station where the wrapping of the bundles is accomplished, and hence while in some instances the apparatus may be located on or near the counter, in other cases it must be arranged at a remote point, as upon the top of the paper roll frame or the top of a case of goods in overhead relation to the counter, and therefore it is an important objective of the invention to so construct the tension and take-up means as to leave sufficient extension of the twine to dispose the free end thereof just where it can be most conveniently grasped, regardless of how far from the apparatus the break or severance of the cord occurs, and furthermore the paying guides of the apparatus must be such that the cord'may be fed freely in response to a strain thereon in any direction, and the structure must be such that by no possibility can a loop or bight of the cord become engaged or caught and thus interfere with the effective operation of the device or impede the operations of the salesman or bundle wrapper.

Therefore, with these and related objects in view, as will appear in the course of the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, the same consists of a construction, combination and relation of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein;

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the dispensing apparatus, showing in full and dotted lines the normal and operative positions of the parts.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view partly broken away.

Fig. 3 is a detail of the tension device, detached.

The apparatus consists, essentially of a base-supported upright 10 carrying at its upper end a cross-head 11 having the oppositely extending receiving and dispensing arms 12 and 1.3, of which the former projects over and lies diametrically of the base 11 while the latter projects beyond and outside of the area of the base and has a terminal delivery guide 15, preferably consisting of a depending ring or eye above which the end of the arm is rounded and tapered as shown at 16 to insure the prompt disengagement of a bight or loop of the cord or twine 17 should it by recoil or elasticity become hitched thereover, to the end that no interference with the free running or paying out of the twine may occur.

The arrangement of the delivery guide beyond the area of the base provides for drawing the free end of the twine freely in any desired direction. from the guide, to suit the convenience of the salesman or bundle wrapper.

The base of the apparatus is substantially round, is located directly under the receiving arm 12 and has a narrow radial exten sion 18 terminating in a socket 19 for the reception of the lower end of the upright- 10, the latter and the socket preferably being squared to prevent turning and the parts being detachably secured together by screws 20.

The base is designed for attachment, as by screws engaging the openings 21, to any selected support such as a counter, shelf or rack, and is adapted to hold a ball. spool, cone, or other wound or roll stock of wrapping cord or twine. which for convenience may be referred to generically as a ball, and for this purpose may have an upstanding core. arbor, or spindle 22 or any equivalent thereof, provided with a retaining rod threaded in a socket in the core and fitted with a winged head 24, and the twine guidmg means on the receiving arm 12 of the crosshead draw substantially axially from the ball held thereon, so as to minimize resistance and the likelihood of entangling' the cord.

Such guiding means of the receiving arm preferably consist of an eye or ring 25 and a tension device 26 comprising a plate spring pivoted as at 27 to the arm and hearing at the other end yieldingly toward the arm where it. carries lateral ears 27 to embrace the arm. The spring has an aperture 28 through which the twine runs and thence passes between the free end of the spring and the surface of the arm which coact to exert a frictional resistance suflicient to prevent an objectionably free movement of the twine and hence the spinning of the ball with a consequent excessive unwinding andv slacking thereof. A braking resistance may also be applied to a ball of twine seated upon the spindle by tightening the retaining rod 2-3 to cause a frictional bearing of the disk 29 thereon.

A companion guide 30 to the guide 25 is arranged in a pendent position on the arm 13 at a corresponding distance from the upright 10 to form a loop or bight 1'? in the cord or twine for running engagement with an eye 31 on a. take-up weight 32 mounted on the upright and held from rotation thereon by the cross-sectionally angular form of the upright, to avoid the twisting of the cord, and a yielding cushion 33 of rubber or cork may be arranged in the path of the weight to receive the impact thereof. The cushion rests upon the socket 19 of the base and the upward movement of the weight is limited by a stop formed by the lower end of a socket 3 1 constituting the center of the cross-head 11 and the connection between the receiving and dispensing arms thereof, and detachably secured thereto by the set screw 35. It will be obvious that the elements of the structure may be readily disconnected for storage and shipment and may be accurately assembled without difi'iculty or loss of time and without calling for the exercise of any special skill either in fitting or adjustment.

The construction disclosed provides for a stable support for the device to resist strains in drawing the cord from the ball or spool, and the cord runs directly upward and substantially axially from the ball to the tension device, especially if a cone is employed, so that resistance in unreeling is minimized.

What 1' claim is:

1. A dispensing device for wrapping cord or twine, having a base attachable to a suitable supporting object and provided with means for holding a ball. of twine, an upright rising from the base near one edge, a cross-head having a socket fitted on the upper end of the upright and oppositely directed dispensing and receiving arms respectively provided with a terminal. delivery guide and a frictional tension device, the socket having an interlocking engagement with the upright for definitely positioning the arms with relation to the base, and a take-up weight slidingly mounted on the upright and having a running engagement with a bight of the twine between the de livery guide and the tension device.

2. A dispensing device for wrapping cord or twine, having a base attachable to a suitable supporting obj'ect and provided with means for holding a ball of twine, and up right rising from the the base near one edge, a cross-head having a socket fitted on the upper end of the upright and oppositely directed. dispensing and. receiv ng arms re spectively provided with a terminal delivery guide and a frictional tension device, the socket having an interlocking engage ment with the upright for definitely positioning the arms with relation to the base, and a takeup weight slidingly mounted on the upright and having a running engagement with a bight of the twine between the delivery guide and the tension device, the take-up weight being held against rotation to prevent entangling the twine.

3. A dispensing device for wrapping cord or twine, having a base attachable to a suitable supporting object and provided with means for holding a ball of twine, an upright rising from the base near one edge, a cross-head having a socket fitted on the upper end of the upright and oppositely directed dispensing and receiving arms respectively provided with a terminal delivery guide and a frictional tension device, the socket having an interlocking engagement with the upright for definitely positioning the arms with relation to the base, and a take-up weight slidingly mounted on the upright and having a running engagement with a bight of the twine between the delivery guide and the tension device, the take-up weight being held against rotation on the upright to prevent entangling the twine.

4:. A dispensing device for wrapping cord or twine, having a base attachable to a suitable supporting object and provided with means for holding a ball of twine, an upright rising from the base near one edge, a cross-head having a socket fitted on the upper end of the upright and oppositely directed dispensing and receiving arms respectively provided with a terminal delivery guide and a frictional tension device, the socket having an interlocking engagement with the upright for definitely positioning the arms with relation to the base, and a take-up weight slidingly mounted on the upright and having a running engagement with a bight of the twine between the delivery guide and the tension device, the upright being cross-sectionally angular and the cross-head socket and take-up weight having similarly shaped bores for engagement therewith.

5. A dispensing device for wrapping cord or twine having a base attachable to a suitable supporting object and provided with means for holding a ball of twine, an upright rising from the base near one edge, a cross-head having a socket fitted on the upper end of the upright and oppositely directed dispensing and receiving arms respectively provided with a terminal delivery guide and a frictional tension device, the socket having an interlocking engagement with the upright for definitely positioning the arms with relation to the base, and a take-up weight slidingly mounted on the upright and having a running engagement with a bight of the twine between the delivery guide and the tension device, the upright being cross-sectionally angular and the cross-head socket and take-up weight having similarly shaped bores for engagement therewith and the base having a socket also provided with a cross-sectionally angular bore for the detachable reception of the lower end of the upright.

WILLIAM ELEY. 

